KW Economics prepares life care plan costing for medical malpractice cases venued in Maryland: what the loss claim consists of, the records that drive it, and a present value built to Maryland damages rules and venues. Plaintiff and defense.
In a medical malpractice matter the life care plan often distinguishes the incremental care the injury requires from the care the underlying condition would have required anyway, and the present value must respect that line. The economist values the incremental items only, applies category-specific medical cost growth, and discounts the stream over the life expectancy the medical evidence supports, which may already have been reduced by the condition being treated. Where the physicians disagree on life expectancy or on which items are incremental, the report presents the present value under each scenario so the fact finder can attach the number to its finding.
Reduction of a life care plan's line items to a single present value. The plan's items, frequencies, durations, and unit costs are carried forward with medical cost growth appropriate to each category, then discounted over the applicable life expectancy. Plan authorship stays with the life care planner; our role is the economic translation of the plan into a damages figure that reconciles with the plan and can be examined item by item.
Because the underlying condition often affected work capacity or life expectancy on its own, the apportionment between the injury and the pre-existing condition is usually the most contested assumption and the one that most changes the total. In cases of permanent disability the incremental care costs and the earnings loss are both large and run across a long horizon, and the life expectancy used for each stream is a second point of contention. In delayed-diagnosis cases the loss may be measured as the difference between two outcome paths, each with its own earnings and care profile.
Maryland courts now apply a reliability inquiry to all expert testimony: the trial judge asks whether the economist is qualified, whether the method is one the profession has tested and accepted, and whether it was reliably applied to the facts of the case. An economic damages report is written to that standard, with each rate and table traced to its source.
Highest court: Supreme Court of Maryland. Court system: courts.state.md.us.
Federal venues: District of Maryland.
Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission.
Maryland pairs a wrongful death action for the beneficiaries' pecuniary loss and solatium with a survival action for the estate, and a statutory limit applies to the noneconomic portion of most awards while economic damages are unlimited. Contributory negligence remains a complete bar, the common-law collateral source rule applies, and prejudgment interest on unliquidated tort damages is generally not available.
We issue the final report and provide deposition and trial testimony, rebuttal of opposing present value opinions, and revaluation when the plan is updated.
In a medical malpractice matter the life care plan often distinguishes the incremental care the injury requires from the care the underlying condition would have required anyway, and the present value must respect that line. The economist values the incremental items only, applies category-specific medical cost growth, and discounts the stream over the life expectancy the medical evidence supports, which may already have been reduced by the condition being treated. Where the physicians disagree on life expectancy or on which items are incremental, the report presents the present value under each scenario so the fact finder can attach the number to its finding.
Maryland courts now apply a reliability inquiry to all expert testimony: the trial judge asks whether the economist is qualified, whether the method is one the profession has tested and accepted, and whether it was reliably applied to the facts of the case. An economic damages report is written to that standard, with each rate and table traced to its source. Medical Malpractice cases venued in Maryland are heard in the Circuit Court (General jurisdiction; larger civil cases, felonies, equity, domestic relations), with final appeals to the Supreme Court of Maryland. Matters within federal jurisdiction proceed in the District of Maryland.
Maryland pairs a wrongful death action for the beneficiaries' pecuniary loss and solatium with a survival action for the estate, and a statutory limit applies to the noneconomic portion of most awards while economic damages are unlimited. Contributory negligence remains a complete bar, the common-law collateral source rule applies, and prejudgment interest on unliquidated tort damages is generally not available. The report presents past and future amounts separately, states every rate and table with its source, and shows the result under the alternatives the other side is likely to argue, so counsel can apply the Maryland rules to a documented figure.
Request a consultation on Life Care Plan Costing or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.